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A 45-year-old Bay Area man with a lengthy criminal history was arrested in connection with a break-in at a UC Berkeley sorority house, where police say he stole food and personal items and was seen watching women shower.
“It’s understandably shocking and scary,” Berkeley Police Officer Byron White told the Los Angeles Times. “Just the knowledge that somebody had been inside the home like that, going into bedrooms, taking underwear, watching people shower, regardless if that was you or not, it does shake your sense of safety.”
According to the Berkeley Police Department, officers arrested Courtney Emile Alford on Nov. 5 after identifying him as the suspect in a burglary that occurred four days earlier at a sorority house on the 2300 block of Warring Street.
Police said that around 6 a.m. on Nov. 1, a resident awoke to find an unknown man inside her bedroom before he fled through a rear door. Other residents later reported seeing the same man inside the house as early as 3 a.m.
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When officers reviewed the home’s security video, they found multiple clips showing the suspect walking in and out of the building until about 6:35 a.m. — even leaving, changing clothes and returning later wearing a ski mask.
White noted that because it was a busy Halloween night on UC Berkeley’s Greek Row, security at the sorority house may have been more relaxed than usual. Surveillance video, he said, shows a man resembling Alford moving in and out of the residence for roughly three hours.
During the investigation, detectives learned that the suspect had stolen food and underwear from a resident’s room and watched women shower in the communal bathroom.
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“We know, at least, at one point, he went into the shower room and was watching the women as they shower,” White told the outlet. “He had also taken some underwear from a room.”
Using surveillance video and FLOCK license-plate-reader technology, detectives with the department’s Sex Crimes Unit identified Alford as the suspect. Based on that evidence, officers obtained an arrest warrant on Nov. 4 and took him into custody the next day without incident.
A search of his Dublin residence uncovered parts of an assault rifle, high-capacity magazines and more than 900 rounds of ammunition, police said.
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The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has charged Alford with burglary, prowling/peeking, invasion of privacy, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, multiple counts of unlawful entry, and several criminal enhancements.
Court filings also indicate that Alford faces separate March 2024 charges for lewd acts upon a child under 14, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Alford, who is well known to law enforcement in Alameda County, is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on $275,000 bail, records show.
A UC Berkeley school official confirmed the incident occurred at an off-campus sorority house and said the case is being investigated by the City of Berkeley Police Department. The university’s Student Affairs team is in contact with the sorority organization and has offered support resources to affected students.
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Public records and the address provided by police identify the house as belonging to Alpha Chi Omega, one of the university’s recognized Greek chapters.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to [email protected].
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